The White Tiger
by Mistian Longhorn
Summary: Didn't realize I didn't fix a few things, oops sorry. Anyway, its about when Adam was 17 in high school trying to fit in. When the school talent show comes up he takes it as a chance to change his chance of fitting in.
1. Chapter 1

The White Tiger

"Adam," The teacher asked. "What happened to your hair?"

Adam quickly tried to hide his newly dyed black hair, but before he could do anything, the class was laughing and pointing at him.

"Did you dye your hair for your boyfriend?" One said. Another pointed at his face and laughed. "That girly makeup for him too?" They laughed.

Adam could feel the tears slowly falling down his face. Why he stayed here he did not know. It wasn't as if he had any friends, or anybody to talk to. It made no sense. He would rather be dead than listen to their insults. It wasn't like he asked to be this way. He was a freak by nature. Born into a world not ready for him. It hurt. Every day he had to listen to their comments and do nothing about it. If he had one wish it would to be normal. If it happened all of this would end. But sadly, since there were no shooting stars, genies, or mermaids, his wish was out of the question.

Nights were the worst. During the day Adam could distract himself with his homework or music, but at night there was nothing to distract him. All he did was lay there and listen to the comments, echo throughout his mind. _Freak, freak, freak…_ They would call. If only they would accept him, that was all he wanted. Why was he so different? Yes, he found his own gender attractive, but besides that what made him so different? He looked like the other teenagers, he acted like them, the only difference was who he slept with when he was ready.

Honestly, he wasn't sure how long he could take this. Anything but staying here seemed like an excellent option. He was even considering taking his own life. But the only issue is what he would leave behind. He wasn't sure he could leave his mother, or family with the fact that they were unable to give him the best life a child like him could have. No. He would not cut to that extreme but something had to be done.

His first idea had been laying low until the school year went out but that wasn't helping either. He needed to do something but what? Hmmm….

Boy, Adam was excited. When he heard there was going to be a talent show he just about exploded. This was his chance. If he could convince the other kids he could do something amazing they would finally leave him alone. Or even better, they might actually become his friends. This was just perfect! Now, all he needed to do was find a talent…

At home, Adam practiced trying to juggle and do all sorts of simple tricks. He wasn't having much luck. The only problem with having to be in the talent show was you had to have talent. He could act but that wasn't really considered a talent. It was just one of his main hobbies. So, without much luck Adam practiced simple talents for an hour until he decided to give up.

Maybe he was just meant to suffer. Then, all of a sudden, as Adam's dreams were collapsing, his email popped open with a message from a comment someone posted about one of the videos he was dared to put on YouTube.

_ panda2345 Dude, I don't know why you're not famous yet, your voice is stunning. Gave me goosebumps. _

Adam couldn't breathe. Someone liked his singing. Was that his talent?

_Only one way to find out…_ Adam thought.

"Okay, next!" The casting director called. Adam nervously stepped forward and took in a breath. _This is it…_ He thought.

"So," The casting director said. "What is your talent?"

Adam could feel himself shaking. "I sing…" He said nervously.

The director nodded and sat back in his chair. "Okay, let's see it." He said.

Adam opened his mouth slightly and a soft shaky note came out, it was on key, but you would hear his nervousness. "Everywhere we go… We're looking for the sun, no place to grow old we're always on the run. They say we'll rot in hell but I don't think we will, they've branded us enough, outlaws of love."

The casting director smiled. "Your notes were a little shaky but I think your voice is beautiful if you're not nervous. What's your name kid?"

"Adam…" He said nervously.

"Ah Adam, welcome to the show!" The director said happily.

For the first time in months Adam felt a smile come to his face. "Thank you!" He cried out. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

The director handed him a ticket. "Enjoy!" They said.

Adam walked down the hall, ticket clutched in his hand with tears running down his face. Except, these tears were not out of sadness, they were happy. Everything was going great!


	2. Chapter 2

When Adam got home and told his mother about how he made the talent show she was thrilled. This would be a great opportunity for Adam to find some acceptance amongst his schoolmates. She knew he was made fun of; just by the way he looked when he got home from school, and now he would be able to show how great he was? This couldn't be any better. Her only issue was she wasn't sure his schoolmates would take well to him being on stage. What if they teased him? Oh well, it was worth a shot. It wasn't as if his life could get any worse. He already got beat up, teased, made fun of, and called a freak. It was going to be his only shot at making a part of his life, besides theater, worthwhile.

The day of the talent show was drawing close. Nobody knew he was participating besides his mother, himself, and the theater group. That kept it kind of nice. If the other people knew he was doing it he wouldn't know what to do. Besides his nerves were shot enough. Every day he swore somebody was going to find out.

Like when the girl across the room gave him an unusually funny look the other day. She stared at him for a minute, and then went back to her work. That was a close call. It looked like she knew something. But since she didn't care after then, he figured she was just staring at the freak.

_Only one more day! _He thought cheerfully.

If everything went to plan, his life would be close to perfect. Only one more day of abuse, then after that he would be treated equally. That was all he ever wanted…

Today was the day! Adam could feel his heart racing through his chest. Everything would be fixed. If they didn't… well… he didn't like to think about that. It was going to work. It had to. This was his last chance.

Today had been going normally. A few insults here and there but nothing he couldn't handle. Just the usual freak and faggot lecture but nothing too serious. He'd heard it all before. It didn't matter. Besides, nothing could take his mind off of the show later. He had everything planned out. He would get up there; swallow his pride, sing, then leave. That would little room for insults from the audience. That would be best.

_Oh my God I'm so nervous!_ Adam thought. He swore he was shaking in his chair. If he was, nobody was watching. They were all too occupied with the excitement of the talent show. Most of them weren't performing but they were curious to who the surprise performer was. It was said they would come up and sing with the voice of an angel. Adam wondered who it was. It certainly couldn't be him, could it? The teacher had kept his name off the talent show list, at his wishes, but they wouldn't put him on there like that, would they?

It didn't matter. All that mattered was he kept his cover until the show was over. That was what was important.

"Adam," A teacher said quietly, tapping him lightly with her hand. "Don't you have something you're supposed to be doing right now?"

The teacher gestured to the clock and Adam almost fainted. It was time.

After about twenty minutes of primping Adam was ready. His outfit was completely black, consisting of a jacket, jeans, boots, and a shirt. His eyes had black over them, and his hair was black too. Since he accidentally dyed it that one time, he decided it looked fine that way. It wasn't gothic looking or anything, it looked natural. Actually his whole outfit didn't appear to be gothic either, even with the black; it looked more natural for him.

This was it! Adam could hardly breathe. The stage appearing to be shaking in front of him. _You can do this, you can do this…_ He told himself.

Right before he felt he was going to faint a voice shouted at him. "You're on next kid!" They said.

Adam felt his heart stop. "Oh my god I can't do this!" He whimpered. Before he could get away from the curtain the director, who interviewed him to get, in walked over. "Don't be nervous kid." They said. "You're a white tiger amongst lions."

Adam stared. "What?"

"A white tiger amongst lions. You are rare, but yet you are poached. While they are protected in a sanctuary you must tread out alone in the frozen wastelands. You are stronger than them. Don't be afraid to show it."

Adam stood there shocked. "Thank you?"

"Don't mention it kid. Knock 'em dead tiger!" They laughed.

Before Adam could thank them again, the curtain drew up and he was standing all alone on stage.

_Just get it over with._ Adam thought. He drew a deep breath and stepped forward toward the microphone.

Immediately he heard a bunch of chattering and a few naughty words shot at him. _Just ignore them._ He thought.

He grabbed the microphone in a shaky hand and let his silk-like voice float above the crowd. Immediately they hushed. _Maybe I got this…_ He thought.

"Strip away the flesh and bone…" He sang softly. "Look beyond the lives you've known… Everyone wants to talk about a freak. No one wants to dig that deep. Let me take you underneath…" Still no comments. With a little more courage Adam sang out the next few lines. "Baby, better watch your step… Never matter what's on the left. You're going to see things you might not want to see. Still not that easy for me, underneath…" No sound. With a strong voice Adam sang out the main refrain. "A red river of screams… underneath… tears in my eyes… underneath… stars in my black and blue sky… and underneath, under my skin, the deaths of my sin… look at me, now do you see?"

Perfect silence. Adam sang though the next two refrains without flaw. The chorus was beautiful. But the part that shocked everyone was strong, yet gentle sound of his voice.

As Adam entered the last refrain his voice gained a new confidence. It grew higher, an octave exactly. His hand followed too, slowly rising with his voice, guiding it to perfection. As he reached the last line he could tears falling down his face. This was it. Time for the final product. As he finished the last word, he set down the microphone and stood back, looking at the audience.


	3. Chapter 3

At first there were a few awkward minutes of silence, and then a voice rose up from the audience. "So the faggot can sing so what?"

Immediately Adam died on the inside. What was the point of doing this if it wasn't going to make a difference? He honestly didn't know what to do. At that moment he would have rather died than stood up on that stage. What was the point of him doing this? What was left?

After a few more awkward minutes another voice rose from the crowd. "What did you think this would accomplish freak? That we would actually accept you? This changes nothing."

Another few voices rose from the audience and some murmuring. Suddenly, Adam saw an object fly from the crowd and hit him squarely in the face. It didn't really hurt but it was enough to convince Adam he'd had enough of the abuse.

He ran off stage and through the hallway until he hit the janitor's closet. There, he slammed the door and allowed the tears that had been bottled up for so long flow. It didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered anymore. All he wanted to do was feel happy. Was that so much to ask? With that question in mind, Adam grabbed his backpack and began digging randomly through it. All of a sudden, his hand fell upon a pill bottle. His depression pills. Adam grabbed two and shoved them into his mouth. All of a sudden Adam lost control. He began shoveling five pills at a time, tears running down his face. Happiness, happiness, all he wanted to feel was happiness. Was that too much to ask?

Soon, the pill bottle was empty. He dug through his backpack crazily and dug out another. Pill after pill he shoved them in, not caring anymore if it killed him. He was sure hell would be a whole lot better than this place. Anything was better than this place.

After the bottle was empty again he grabbed another and shoved them down. After those were gone Adam was unable to find another. It didn't matter, his coordination was off. He couldn't put anymore pills into his mouth, even if he wanted to.

As Adam was ready to lay down on the floor and allow his drug overdose to take him, someone stepped into the janitor's closet.

He didn't hear or see much, because of his drug overdose, but before he blacked out he could hear someone saying something along the lines of "I'm sorry…"

When Adam woke up he was in a hospital bed with an IV tube in his arm. There was no one in the room except for a young man with fiery red hair. The young man appeared to be about his age except quite a bit taller. Who was he?

Before Adam could ask, the young man walked over and sat on the edge of his bed. "Hey, how you feeling?" He asked.

Adam stretched and sat up. "Fine. But one question, who are you?"

The young man smiled. "My name is Drake. I was the one who found you in the janitor's closet. You were not in good shape. The doctors weren't sure if you would survive."

"Oh…"

The young man smiled brighter. "So now that you're okay I just want to tell you that you did a great job at the talent show. You really showed that jerks."

Adam shook his head. "No, didn't you hear them? They made fun of me and threw things at me. I don't think that sounds like much success."

Drake shrugged. "No… but you sure showed them that maybe there's more to a person than meets the eye."

Adam smiled. "Thanks. By the way, how did you know I was in the closet? I swear everyone was still in the auditorium."

Drake blushed. "Well… After you ran off stage I kinda followed you. I felt so bad about the way the crowd treated you that I wanted to come and comfort you. But as you can see, when I got there you were partially passed out."

Adam laughed nervously. "Oh yeah… huh, I don't really know why I did that."

Drake shrugged. "It doesn't matter. All that matters is that you're okay."

Adam quirked his head. "You care about me?"

Drake slightly blushed. "Well, I kinda like you, if that's what you're asking. I am just too shy to admit it…"

Adam's smile brightened. "Wait. You're…"

"Gay yeah… I just don't like to admit it because of the way people treat people who are like that."

Adam laughed. "Funny. I thought I was alone but there was someone after all. Funny thing…"

Drake blushed then got up. "Well, I've got to go. I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"Wait!" Adam called.

Drake looked back.

"I was wondering if you're willing to meet up with me sometime…"

Drake smiled. "Of course! Here's my number." He pulled a small piece of paper out of his pocket and set it on the table next to Adam. "See you later." He called, walking out the door.

After Drake was gone Adam sat back in the hospital bed and looked at the ceiling and reflected on the last twenty four hours. No, he did not gain total acceptance for society like he wanted but he did get something better. Someone on his side. That was all he really wanted. You know what? For all he cared society could die. All that mattered was that somebody cared. Yes, somebody cared.

As Adam sat down on the hospital bed ready to go back to sleep he felt a warm fuzzy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He kinda liked it…

"Well, well, well, who got out of therapy early?" Drake smirked. Adam laughed and pushed his away.

"You're not supposed to be here for another hour mister so you're out of luck!" Adam smirked. He pushed Drake away again and laughed. First time he felt like he could…

It had been five months since Adam got out of the hospital. Things were looking brighter! Drake and him were seeing each other and people magically stopped making fun of him. He knew Drake had something to do with it but he pretended not to notice. If the teasing stopped when dumb people started getting black eyes it was fine with him! All that mattered was he was happy. And yes he was definitely happy. He was no longer a lonely white tiger wandering the wilderness; he had a partner to accompany him. Together they would they would overcome all the obstacles in their way, probably for good. If life got any better Adam honestly wouldn't know what to do. Yes it was perfect. If only it could stay this way forever, then everything he could possibly want would be accomplished. His life was perfect.

"Hey Adam," Drake called. "Whatcha doing later?"

Adam smirked. "Besides criticizing your grammar? Nothing!"

Drake laughed and pulled him close. "Aw… That just hurt my feelings!"

Adam laughed lightly and made a face at Drake. "Too bad!"

Drake laughed and pulled Adam's lips to his and they shared a quick embrace.

"Adam…" A voice called from somewhere. Adam looked over and saw his therapist standing at the door. "We're not done yet!"

Adam rolled his eyes and looked over at Drake. "You heard the woman. I've got things to talk about!"

Drake shrugged. "Fine. But you better call me when you're done. I'm 'so' not letting you walk six miles home again."

Adam smirked. "Fine. I promise I'll call… See you later then?"

"See you later."

They both shared one more kiss then Adam disappeared into the large building.

Drake smirked. "He's 'so' not going to call."


End file.
